Prior art apparatus for use in gripping and lifting a refuse container, and wherein the apparatus includes a pair of arms for grabbing the container, commonly includes at least one set of hydraulic cylinders adapted to cause movement of the grabber arms from a stored position wherein the arms extend generally vertically upwardly to a working position wherein the arms extend horizontally and for engaging the container. This apparatus also includes a second set of hydraulic cylinders to cause movement of the grabber arms toward and away from each other. Normally, a pair of hydraulic cylinders are provided to operate the grabber arms, one for each grabber arm.
Another feature of the prior art containers of the type used with such apparatus is that they commonly have a tapered configuration, the containers being narrower at the bottom than at the top. The containers are shaped in this manner to facilitate molding of the containers, to provide for stacking and to facilitate discharge of refuse from the containers when they are inverted and dumped into a refuse collecting truck. This characteristic of the containers, however, makes gripping of the containers by the grabber arms difficult and the containers may slide through the grabber arms when the containers are inverted. In an effort to prevent the containers from slipping through the grabber arms into the collecting truck, the prior art grabber arms are commonly constructed so as to firmly engage the container to the extent that the containers are substantially deformed. Such deformation of the containers tends to decrease their effective life. Additionally, the prior art grabber arms normally include a rubber facing cemented or vulcanized to the container engaging surfaces of the grabber arms in order to increase the frictional engagement between the grabber arms and the container. This bonded rubber material tends to tear away from the surface of the grabber arms, and maintenance problems may occur.